Rage
by Gothicphoto
Summary: After the failed wedding...
1. Default Chapter

"RANMA, YOU PERVERT!" WHAM! Thus, Ranma was sent into Lower Earth Orbit thanks to Akane's intense anger and abilities with a mallet. The situation wasn't a new one, Akane had made Ranma lunch, only to have Shampoo intercept Ranma and offer him something she had cooked while doing her best at impersonating his clothing, I.E. be all over him.

Akane's usual response to this was to call Ranma a pervert and send him off. Today was no different for Ranma.

Ranma was developing some bad habits and thoughts about women in general. Most of them could be traced to Akane and the rest of the fiancé brigade, which would lead to Genma, Ranma's father. When Ranma had first arrived in Nerima, he was a chauvinistic male that thought women were not meant for combat and were delicate flowers that he had absolutely no interest in. However, after living in the Tendo household for over two years with Akane, and the rest of the fiancé force visiting often, Ranma's opinions have changed somewhat.

Ranma didn't really think about it much, he just thought that it was normal, and if he complained about it, his mother would think it unmanly of him. Not something that Ranma really wanted to happen. All the women in his life, with the notable exception of Kasumi, had gone above and beyond proving everything that Genma had ever taught or said about them wrong. They were never weak, nor meek, nor did they support their men. They were violent, independent, and judging by his airtime, quite strong.

Ranma landed a few blocks away, creating a crater. Luckily, it was in an empty lot, so there wasn't any property damage this time. He got up and quickly moved away from the area, before checking himself for injuries. Jaw was sore, no broken bones, sore all over, slight limp, and I'll live. Ranma thought to himself before making his way back to Nerima and the high school.

Ranma's ideas of intimate relations were just as skewed as his thoughts on women. Since he was one half the time, the very idea held a certain amount of terror for him. Having missed that particular class due to being in china, Ranma's only source of information on that subject had been his perverted buddies. The one time they had brought a magazine to school to share had been the one time that Akane had caught Ranma with it.

This had happened after the Saffron incident, so it made it even worse for Ranma in the end. Akane had taken that incident to heart as proof that Ranma was the worst of perverts and hadn't relented since, citing every little excuse for righteous punishment, going through his stuff, searching for more evidence, and turning every little thing against him.

Ranma had only looked at the book once and the entire time he was feeling sick to his stomach. Akane only reinforced the reaction that Ranma had, disgust. He found no joy in the magazine, only horrors for himself. Ryoga had been surprised at the viciousness of Ranma's attacks the last time he showed up and spouting his usual lines of having seen hell. Ranma didn't have long before Akane punted him out of the yard for picking on Ryoga.

It was funny, Ranma had started to share the view of Akane about boys, and even men, but couldn't convince the tomboy that without convicting himself.

Ranma had ended up accepting his curse, after the failed wedding, it had become apparent to him that a cure to his curse was never going to fall into his hands, and would always slip from his fingers, no matter what. So he had sat down one night and just meditated on the curse and how he felt about it.

Since that night, he had been taking pains to make sure that Nabiki could not catch him, or rather her, in any compromising positions that she could photograph. He had even been doing his best to retrieve many of the photos that had been sold of him. It had never really bothered him that people were looking at his body before, but it had never been him, just a curse. When the realization came that both bodies were his and he would probably die with them, he changed his opinion. The water had seemed to stop at that point. He still got wet, but nowhere near the amount as before.

The fiancé force had been truly persistent ever since the failed wedding, not even Ranma's cold shoulder seemed get the message through that he didn't want any of their attentions. Ranma had stopped taking any food from either the Cat Café or Ucchan's, but it never stopped them from fixing something and trying to force it down his throat.

Ranma was taking his time walking back to school, enjoying the bright day and peace that Nerima never seemed to hold for him. Smelling something good, he decided to stop and get something to eat before heading back. Inside the small restaurant, Ranma spotted the local truancy officer and waved before placing an order.

Ranma had met the truancy officer the first time he had been sent out by Akane's mallet. It had taken a few times, after the fifth time flying into the officer's presence and the signed statements of several witnesses, the officer had stopped running Ranma in for being out of school, seeing as how it wasn't his fault. Ranma had been relieved that somebody listened to him for once. They now had an understanding between each other, as long as Ranma was on his way back and didn't waste time, the officer would give him a note saying where he landed, then would leave him alone.

Ranma thought as he ate and walked back to the school. His jaw still ached from where Akane had gotten him earlier, and it made eating a slow experience. He thought back to failed wedding and the way that Akane had acted during it. He was convinced that Akane was willing to go through with it, but nowadays, he wasn't so sure. He couldn't help but wonder what life would be like with her as his wife.

The images that came to his mind made him shiver, the wedding night would be a nightmare for both of them, life in general would be bad for Ranma. He could easily see her continuing to beat on him whenever she felt like it. What scared him the most was the idea of Akane deciding to beat on him after splashing him with water, she'd done it before and it had hurt worse than when she hit him as a guy.

He thought about what life would be like with each of the fiancés. Shampoo wouldn't be much better than Akane after they got back to her village. They would do their best to break him of his defiance and make him a second class house husband. He held no illusions about how he would be treated.

Ucchan would just have him run her restaurant with her. Anything else would meet with some firm and probably spatula shaped resistance. He couldn't see himself in a restaurant setting the rest of his life. It wasn't until he got to Nerima that he even began to waitress, and he wasn't keen on it.

Kodachi; even though she wasn't an official fiancé, Ranma was waiting for the day that Genma made the promise to her that would seal his fate. Ranma knew that he would more than likely end up like Tatewaki Kuno if he fell into the clutches of Kodachi. Living life in a drug induced fantasy world while acting as a guinea pig for whatever new drugs she came up with until one finally proved to be too much for him.

He had never been interested in any of the girls, yet they pursued him like a prize to be won. Except for Akane, who did her best to act disinterested until someone challenged her or she got an edge, then she would fight and compete just to do so, not for him.

Ranma knew that he didn't have anybody to turn to, nobody that would just listen to him without trying to abuse his confidence.

That was another thing that Ranma had been missing out on lately. Ever since the magazine incident, his confidence had been waning, undercut by his own self loathing and Akane's constant accusations. If you hear a lie long enough, then it starts to become truth. Akane had been calling him pervert ever since they had met, and hadn't stopped yet.

Ranma had a strong front, his cocky façade of a young man full of himself not afraid to take on the world, was firmly in place, but he was afraid that the mask was slipping.

The only peace he knew nowadays was in the Art. It wasn't enough for him to live on.

Ranma arrived back at Furinkin high just in time for the bell signaling gym. One of Ranma's favorite and dreaded classes of the day, because of the locker room. When Ranma had first started to attend and his curse was still unknown, gym was his favorite period, but once the curse was known, then Ranma had to convince the guys in the locker room that it was not a good idea to approach him. Cold water found him more times in that locker room than anywhere else.

Nobody questioned where Ranma had been, most of them had seen the launching of Akane's favorite rocket, and it had happened enough times that they knew it was pointless to ask. Ranma had managed to stay dry while in the locker room changing out of his usual red and black Chinese outfit and into the gym shorts and shirt.

Some of the guys gave Ranma odd looks, but didn't say anything. It wasn't until Ranma looked into a mirror that he saw the ugly bruise that was forming where Akane had hit him before. A brief flash of anger went through Ranma before depression hit. He should have healed this by now. Given all the training and physical hardening Ranma had gone through, it should have taken a lot more than Akane's malleting to make him bruise like this. Sighing, he went out onto the field to get class over with.

Ranma saw Akane with the girls, and when she noticed him, it seemed as if she had managed to get even angrier than before. He cringed at the looks she was giving him, each one promising pain when she got a hold of him.

Gym class passed without incident, though everybody noticed a diminished performance from Ranma, compared to his usual activity level, he was rather subdued, which meant that he was doing just as well as everybody else.

In the locker room after gym, Ranma was waiting for the rest of the guys to get done with the showers before he took his. It didn't stop them from splashing him with cold water, but at least he wasn't in the showers naked when it happened.

Sure enough, one guy came up by Ranma and shook his head wildly, cold water splashing everywhere. Ranma didn't even notice the change anymore, but knew that it had happened. There was nothing that she could do to the guy, she knew he had done it on purpose, but he had done it in a way that looked like an accident. He even apologized when he looked over at her. Ranma was just glad that she hadn't taken anything off yet.

The other guys in the locker room gave a few cat calls and wolf whistles until the coach came out and silenced them. He didn't even give Ranma a second glance. She decided that she could do without a shower today and decided to just get dressed and leave, she hadn't even worked up a sweat while she was out there. She just wanted to go home.

Gym was the last class of the day, so Ranma wasn't worried having to be a guy for the rest of the day, while it would be nice, it didn't really bug her anymore. It bugged her old man when she stayed a girl for any length of time, so she did it to bother him.

Stepping out of the guys locker room, Ranma saw the last person she wanted to see, Akane.

If Akane had been upset before, her aggression level went up a few notches when she saw Ranma come out of the guys locker room in girl form. The bruise on Ranma's face stood out more because of the pale skin of his girl form, but where it was gave Akane more fuel to her rage.

Before Ranma could even open her mouth, Akane was all over her, screaming and yelling, accusing him of being with his other fiancés when he should be in school, accusing him of doing perverted things in the locker room. Wincing with each word yelled in her face, Ranma didn't even try to mount a defense, choosing to back up into the locker room door with her hands up in a placating gesture.

All activity stopped in the locker room at the intrusion of a furious Akane laying into a cowering female Ranma. A lot of the guys were just getting out of the showers, and either had very little or nothing on. That fact that penetrated Akane's tirade against Ranma and served to drive her into a higher state of agitation and aggression. With a feral yell of "PERVERT!" She grabbed Ranma and threw him into the hallway and into the wall.

The guys in the locker room heard the sounds of violence continue for a few moments and the sounds of questionable righteous female anger as they did their best to not draw any attention from the demon Akane.

When it was done, Ranma was in the air again with several new bruises to go with the one on her face, heading towards the Tendo Dojo. With a splash, she landed in the Koi pond, miraculously missing the rocks that lined the pond.

"Good to see you home son." Nodoka, Ranma's mother called out.

"Ranma! Why aren't you walking your fiancé home from school?" Genma shouted.

Wringing out her shirt of the excess water, Ranma barely gave either parent a nod.

"I'm taking a bath." She said dejectedly, her façade fully broken after her last encounter with Akane.

She stripped down to her boxers and grabbed a convient towel before entering the house, Kasumi never liked it when she dripped all over the house.

After getting the hot water running, she made sure that the occupied sign was out, the door was locked, and, for good measure, placed the hamper in front of the door. After gathering up her wash supplies, she sat in the scrubbing area and started to cry.

Ranma had been raised to be a man among men, but there were times that he just couldn't hold it in, and at those times he was actually grateful of the curse. He had never felt comfortable crying as a guy, not ever since his father found him one night crying for his mother. He never cried where his father could find him after that. After Jusenkyo, Genma didn't say anything if he was in girl form and crying, but would give him hell if he did it as a guy. Ranma still felt the urge to hide his tears, but was more comfortable with it as a girl.

Ranma had been developing a bad habit, one that he knew was bad, but it did help to make her feel better when there were days like this. After crying herself out, she made sure that the furo didn't overflow, last thing she needed was for anybody to come in to investigate a puddle at the bathroom door.

She looked down at her thighs and noted the faint scars that were left over from her cat fist training, while none of them were prominent scars, they were large enough for her purposes. Pulling a razor out of her bathing supplies, she found a fresh, healed, scar and lightly ran the razor over it a couple of times before letting the blade bite into her flesh. She only cut herself when the emotional pain got to be too much for her and she needed some form of release. The sharp, physical pain of the razor grounded her from the deep emotional pain of her life.

The scars from her youth hid any new scars that she might make now. She didn't bite deep into her leg to cut, only the surface and just enough to draw blood. Usually one cut was enough, but this time, she felt that she needed more. She noticed a scar on her arm just under the wrist that would work perfectly. She carefully planned this next cut, didn't want to make a mistake here.

Nabiki was in a good mood. She had made some money earlier in the day with some bets on how long it would take Ranma to get back to school as well as the rest of the usual goings on around the school. She was especially happy because she had managed to set up a hidden camera in the bathroom of the house to catch Ranma bathing. He'd managed to avoid having his picture taken for a couple of months, at least, he had avoided to provide anything that Nabiki could use and sell.

Nabiki had gone to great expense to set up a hidden camera in the bathroom to get something to sell to her clients, I.E. Kuno plus others. She had left the school and was hurrying home when she saw Ranma flying overhead.

_Twice in one day? You must have really done something to upset Akane, Soatome._ _I'll be sure to add that to your bill. _

When she got home, she inquired where Ranma was and was told that he was in the bath. Smirking, she rushed to her room to get some footage of Ranma bathing as a girl.

_Kuno'll pay a fortune for this._

Nabiki's eager attitude fell along with her mouth when she got the monitor on and adjusted properly, Ranma was sitting there in all her glory with a razor at her wrist and bruises all over her body. She was only stunned a moment before she started to rush out of her room and towards the bathroom.

Nabiki had always liked Ranma, she didn't exploit him out of spite, and had always cut him a break when it came to his debt. Her own way of showing affection to the cursed boy was of a cool distance, she could easily see herself falling for him, but held no illusions of what that would do for her chances of survival. The other fiancés would waste no time in trying to eliminate her from the competition, her brief time as a fiancé taught her that lesson.

Right now, though, that was going out the window. Ranma was the strongest person she knew, and if he was commiting suicide, then there were going to be some serious changes around the house if he survived.

She yelled for the family as she raced towards the bathroom, slamming into the bathroom door, not bothering to try to open it. The thing about Japanese architecture is that it isn't meant to survive directed force. With a loud crash, the door fell before Nabiki only to fall herself over the hamper. When she finally untangled herself from the mess on the floor and thrust open the furo door, the entire family was at the bathroom door.

Ranma had been deep into the sensation of the razor over her wrist, she was feeling much better and was half way across the scar when a loud crash made her jump and push the blade in further than she ever intended it to go. The small trickle of blood became a bit more flowing. _ Oh no! _Reacting quickly, she pulled the blade out just as the bathroom door opened to reveal Nabiki and the rest of the family.

For a moment, nobody moved.

For the family, the Tendo's and the Soatome's, it was a horrifying site of a battered and bruised Ranma in female form with blood flowing freely out of one wrist and a razor in her hand. For Ranma, it was like a nightmare given life. Her one form of release gone wrong and the family she lived with catching her in yet another compromising situation.

She looked and she saw the looks of everybody before they started moving. The last person she looked at was Akane, the look in her eyes said that she knew this was just a pathetic call for attention and she would pay for it. As everybody started to move into the bathroom after getting over their shock, Ranma shot into the corner and huddled there, trying to make herself as small as possible while pleading not to be hit. Tears of shame and pain flowing as freely as her blood from her wrist as she tried to will everybody away, they weren't supposed to see her like this.

Nabiki reached the naked cowering girl first and did her best to capture the bleeding wrist and stop the flow. As soon as she touched Ranma, she started to thrash and scream, ignoring all the years of training in a hysterical fit. It took Genma and Soun to restrain her enough for Kasumi to apply a shiatsu pressure point to make Ranma sleep.

Akane never moved to help, and loudly proclaimed that it was just a stunt to get attention and in a perverted way. Akane started to pull out her mallet to punish the pervert a third time today because he had obviously not learned his lesson yet. It was Kasumi who saw what Akane was about to do, and she took action in a most unexpected way.

Kasumi had not practiced the art ever since before her mother had died several years ago, so everybody was surprised when she snapped a kick that Ranma would have proud of to knock the mallet out of Akane's hands. The cold steel was evident in Kasumi's voice as she brought her voice to bear.

"Just what do you think you are doing young lady?"

"He's being a pervert! He's just trying to fool you so he can do something perverted!"

"Nabiki, call Tofu. Daddy, take Akane out of here while I tend to Ranma."

"But Kasumi, he's nothing but a…"

"Not another word! You will do as I say, or so help me…"

"Come daughter, let Kasumi do her work."

Soun lead a protesting Akane out of the bathroom with some help from Genma. Nodoka took Nabiki's place at Ranma's side while Kasumi started to tend Ranma's wound.

"What happened to him?" Nodoka wondered, she was looking at the various bruises that covered Ranma's slight body. She was especially concerned with Ranma's face and a small bloody cut on her thigh.

"I don't think that Ranma was trying to commit suicide, Auntie."

"How can you say that when you're holding his cut wrist? How could we have not seen this coming?" Nodoka brushed some of Ranma's red hair off of her face.

"Look at this, Auntie. The bleeding has already stopped, there is a much shallower cut leading up to the deeper wound and it follows a pre-existing scar. If anything, I would say that we interrupted something else. The cut on her, sorry, his leg is the same, a shallow cut that follows a scar from before. If Ranma wanted to die, I doubt it would be in the bathroom as a girl."

"If my son wasn't attempting suicide, then what was he doing?"

"Let us get her bundled up and into bed before we continue this."

Nabiki came rushing back into the bathroom, a scared look on her face.

"Tofu is on his way, how is she?"

"She is fine, if you would help us put her to bed while we wait for Tofu to arrive, I think that we have much to discuss because of this."

Soon, Ranma was tucked into bed, her wounds tended and her bruises salved. She was peacefully sleeping. Kasumi was holding a silently sobbing Nabiki.

"Nabiki, how did you know?" Nodoka had been waiting for the young girl to calm down before asking the question. Nabiki's discovery of Ranma's actions brought up some uncomfortable questions surrounding the young woman.

Nabiki was saved from answering for a moment as Dr. Tofu came into the room and started to check over Ranma before turning his attention to the women present. Nabiki kept a sharp eye on his behavior as he worked, it wouldn't do if he were to suddenly start acting like he usually did around Kasumi.

"From what I can tell, without talking to him, is that this wasn't a serious attempt. How was he found?" Tofu said with exemplary control over himself in the presence of Kasumi.

Nabiki decided to speak up at this point. "I've got some hidden camera's set up in the bathroom, when I got home and turned on my monitor, I saw her about to cut her wrist." She could feel the disapproving stares from the three separate sets of eyes in the room.

"Nabiki, I don't care why, or how, but those camera's are coming down after we get done." Kasumi said in a soft but firm tone. The steel from her voice earlier now had a velvet cover but it would still take no argument. Nabiki quietly agreed.

"Again, I want to say that this wasn't an actual attempt at suicide, so I don't think we need to worry about him trying again, but this isn't something that can be ignored either. Where did he get the other bruises on his body? I'm assuming that he had made an effort to conceal his activities?"

"He had locked himself in the bathroom and blocked the doorway, the only reason we knew anything was because of Nabiki's yelling. We don't know how he got so many bruises." Kasumi said.

"How did he react when you came in?"

The story came out about Ranma's bleeding wrist and his reaction when he saw Akane and when Nabiki tried to stop his bleeding.

"I see. Do you mind if I were to talk to him when he wakes up?"

"Please do."

"In the meantime," Nodoka spoke up, "I would like to discuss with the both of you the status of Akane's engagement to my son. Her actions in the bathroom did not escape my notice and I am not happy about her intent to harm my son."

"Yes, Auntie." Both sisters said at the same time.

Ranma wasn't far from waking as the sisters and her mother left the room for more private surroundings. Tofu had only just kneeled back beside the red head when she started to stir.

"Good afternoon, Ranma."

"Doc? What are ya doing here?" She blinked her eyes and raised her head before noticing the bandage around her wrist. "Nuts, I was hoping I it was a nightmare."

"Ranma, can we talk about it?"

"I don't know what to say, I know what it looked like down there, but I know that nobody'll believe me."

"I don't think that is true Ranma. After having looked at the cut, I know that you weren't planning on committing suicide. How long have you been cutting yourself?"

"Ever since the failed wedding. After we got back from China and I killed Saffron."

"Please tell me why."

"It started when I cut myself while cleaning up the dojo, Akane had just gotten done yelling at me over the destruction of the dojo and the wedding fiasco and why I had to have so many fiancés and everything else that I had done to make her life miserable ever since we met. I was angry, frustrated, upset, and everything else that you feel when something like that happens. I guess I wasn't paying attention, but I caught myself against some broken glass, didn't cut deep, but it did give me a shock. The pain of the cut made everything else go away to a point where I could deal with it better. Ever since then, when ever things start to get to where I can't deal with them, a little cut and everything isn't as bad as I thought."

"Ranma, that's not a healthy way of dealing with your emotions"

"I know that doc, but losing myself in martial arts doesn't work anymore. Hell, even the pain is getting to not be enough, I've had to do it more often just to feel like I could get up in the mornings. I know I shouldn't do it but I can't help it anymore."

"Tell me what has been going on ever since you cleaned the dojo, specifically what happened to lead to each time you cut yourself."

As Ranma laid there and started to go over the past few months with Tofu, Genma was nursing a massive headache while him and his buddy, Soun, did their best to keep an irate Akane away from his son.

"Why are you protecting him? He deserves this!" Genma plucked another mallet out of the girl's hands as it formed. For the first time since coming to the Tendo household he was having doubts about the perfect match between their children.

"I don't know what has gotten into you, young lady, this is no way to treat a guest." Soun was doing his best to cow his daughter into submission, unfortunately she wasn't impressed by his demon head technique any more and had learned how to disable it, leaving Genma by himself while Soun recovered.

Genma had been worried about his child for the past few months, Akane had been becoming more violent towards his boy while the boy himself was becoming more withdrawn. While his skill in the Art had not gone down, his enthusiasm for it had all but disappeared, and with it, his zest for life. Genma had been hoping that it was merely a phase that would pass on both their parts. Now he was thinking that there was something seriously wrong.

"There's nothing wrong with that pervert, he just wants attention! He's always had to be the center of attention! He can't stand not to be! Let me go and I'll show you how much is wrong with him! AAAARRRGGGGHHHH!"

"Tendo! Get up! I can't hold your daughter by myself foreverk!" With a final thump, Genma slid down the wall while Akane stepped over his unconscious body and headed upstairs to hand out some righteous justice.

"Did you hear something?" Nabiki cocked an ear to catch something on the wind.

"I do not appreciate your trying to change the subject, Nabiki. This situation with my son and your sister requires our full attention and I will not have you distracting us." Nodoka was in rare form tonight, ever since seeing her son cowering in the bathroom at the sight of his fiancé, she had been having an internal battle. On one hand, Ranma's behavior was decidedly unmanly and demanded to be addressed, but on the other hand Akane's behavior towards Ranma would have driven the manliest of men to such a state if treated as such for even a brief period.

From what Kasumi and Nabiki were telling her, Akane had been treating Ranma like this since the day they met over two years ago. It was becoming increasingly apparent that not only was Akane not suitable as a wife to Ranma, but was even dangerous to his health.

Nodoka was about to say something further when the sounds of enraged feminine footsteps stalked past the room's door, headed for the room Ranma was in. Nodoka would have to apologize to Nabiki later if that was who she thought it was. A long talk with Soun and Genma as well, seeing as they had failed to subdue one girl.

Kasumi and Nabiki also heard the footsteps but took no motion to intercept until Nodoka got up herself in a haste to divert disaster.

Ranma had not been able to hold back the tears as she continued to tell Tofu about the past few months. Tofu was displaying an undiscovered talent of knowing what questions to ask to draw out how Ranma actually felt about certain things.

Ranma was so lost in her tears and bearing herself that she and Tofu were very surprised when the door exploded into the room over their heads, Akane stood in the doorway, her aura was glowing a deep red and a furious expression was on her face.

Ranma was in no shape to deal with another attack, she was still too raw from before, too vulnerable from bearing herself to Tofu. The sight of Akane ready to kill sent Ranma gibbering in terror, reaching out for one who could bring some security to her.

Akane was seeing red. She had come up stairs to set Ranma straight and to get him to admit that he was in the wrong and that everything was his fault. He had been especially perverted today, turning down her cooking, brazenly flirting with the Chinese hussy, doing things in the boys locker room as a girl, tricking her into going into a locker room full of naked and half naked boys, and then faking a suicide attempt just to draw attention away from her.

Akane's skewed view of the world when it regarded Ranma went into overdrive when she saw Ranma still a female and still practically naked latch onto Dr. Tofu. She missed the look of utter fear and terror on her fiancé's face, only seeing imagined lust and perversity.

"I KNEW IT!" Akane threw herself forward to punish Ranma, not seeing Tofu move between them. Akane's mallet struck Tofu, knocking both him and Ranma into the wall, but not through it. Akane wasn't aiming to remove the pervert from the area this time, this time she was going to take her time.

"YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN A PERVERT! A WORTHLESS EXCUSS OF A MARTIAL ARTIST! YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN HAPPOSAI! HAPPOSAI'S A BETTER MAN THAN YOU! YOU AREN'T EVEN A MAN!" Tofu had been knocked away from Ranma at the beginning, leaving a cowering, crying, and naked Ranma to the tenderizing mercies of Akane. "NOBODY LOVES YOU! YOU'RE NOT WANTED HERE!"

Nodoka, Kasumi, and Nabiki had been momentarily stunned by the ferocity of Akane's attacks on Ranma, both physically and verbally, but were soon in motion to try to stop their enraged sister.

_Thank Kami for Ranma's unnatural martial arts training_ was Nabiki's thoughts as she carried the battered form of Ranma out of the room and away from Akane. She had left with Akane held at sword point by Ranma's mother while Kasumi was seeing how Tofu was. Akane's accusations against Ranma and her determination that he be punished for them were both ludicrous and eerily familiar.

Though Nabiki didn't have any medical training, you didn't live in a martial artist's home without picking up some basics of first aid. She knew that Ranma would be okay physically, having taken much worse in some of his fights against Ryoga. Nabiki was more worried about the emotional damage that her sister had done to the pigtailed martial artist.

Akane, however, had just had some cold water poured over her anger in the form of the Soatome family blade at her throat. She had shrugged off both Nabiki's and Kasumi's attempts to restrain her. The feel of a naked blade at one's own throat had the remarkable effect of subduing the raging beast. Akane still had her arms raised up to bring the mallet down again.

Nodoka's voice was cold, as cold as the blade she held at Akane's neck.

"We were just discussing my son's future, I think it would be best if you were to join us. Sit!" Akane held no illusion that she was in trouble, for what, she didn't know. Somehow it was Ranma's fault, and that made her all the more angry at the cursed boy. The feel of the blade at her throat convinced her that discretion was the better part of valor for the moment though.

Tofu was getting up, holding onto his arm as he allowed Kasumi to help him. He didn't know what had gotten into Akane to have her act like this, but he was going to be making some recommendations to Soun soon. His first priority was to make sure that Ranma was okay.

Akane noted the cold look Tofu gave her before limping out of the room. She was prevented from saying anything as Nodoka kept the blade steady as he left the room. A moment later Nabiki came back into the room.

"How is my son?" Nodoka never wavered, never broke her attention from Akane.

"He's unconscious. He should be fine, I sent Tofu to look in on him."

"Akane, after witnessing your behavior and actions towards my son tonight, I am dissolving the engagement between the two of you. I shall be taking my child away from this place where it is obviously not safe or healthy for him to remain." Nodoka noted the change in Akane's expression from suppressed rage to relief and it disgusted her.

"I see this failure of the promise between families to be both dishonorable and your fault, child. I shall be speaking with your father about this shortly. I do not expect to be interrupted nor do I expect to have to tolerate any more of your foolishness tonight. You have already embarrassed this family by assaulting a family friend and doctor, do not compound the situation further with any further actions. You will remain here until you are called, is that understood?"

Akane was in disbelief at Nodoka's words, and numbly nodded that she did understand, not trusting her mouth to give the right words while being mindful of the blade still resting on her neck.

End Part One.

Writer's block story so don't expect a timely update. Please review and let me know what you think.


	2. No turning back

Rage Part Two

Both the Tendo and the Soatome bloodlines were old Samurai families. This went a long ways in explaining some of the quirks that marked both families, their preoccupation with the martial arts and honor, their obsession with upholding antiquated traditions, and a willingness to embrace Seppuku as something other than suicide.

While the ways of Bushido were no longer practiced on the field of battle, the way of the warrior was still alive in many families. The Soatome Matriarch was a firm believer in Bushido. In some ways she was as crazy as Kuno.

Soun was sitting with an ice pack on his head. His headache was compounded, brought on by Akane and agitated by Nodoka, who was upset at Akane. He was in no shape to deal with the implications of what Nodoka was suggesting.

"Please calm down, I'm sure that we can talk things over."

Nodoka was sitting across from Soun and Genma. Both Kasumi and Nabiki were off to the side while Tofu was still up with Ranma. Nodoka was looking over a paper that Nabiki had printed out for her, it detailed the list of fiancés and suitors for both Ranma and Akane and the circumstances of each to the best of Nabiki's knowledge.

"I have dissolved the engagement between Akane and Ranma." Nodoka said with authority.

"I forbid it! The Tendo and Soatome lines must be joined! It's a matter of family honor!" Genma shouted. He was brought short by the flash of steel as the family sword was brought up.

"Genma, I hold the family blade, not you. I have final say over the honor of our family, and by this list I hold in my hand, you have cheapened the family honor to the price of a bowl of rice."

Genma was suddenly in the yard in panda form playing with an old tire.

"The Engagement is off."

"But what about the Tendo family honor? What of the shame?" Tendo was working on some real waterworks.

"I have not broken the promise between our families, merely the engagement between your youngest and my only. I have found your youngest daughters actions this night to be dishonorable and shameful to the name of Tendo.

This proclamation brought everybody up short; it even stopped the infamous Soun crying and made the panda drop its tire.

Soun was getting that sinking feeling at the bottom of his stomach, with that announcement Nodoka had sealed somebody's fate.

The Tendo family was a strong, proud family. Soun was a pillar of the community, though many in the community agreed that he was far better when his wife was still alive. They were well liked, and respected in the neighborhood. The daughters all had friends in the community and school. After having been forced to move into the Tendo home, Nodoka had made the same friends and was respected as well.

What she was saying was that Soun Tendo had a few options open to him regarding his wayward child and his family's honor.

One of the big tenets of Bushido was 'death before dishonor'. Akane would have to commit seppuku to atone for the dishonor and clean the Tendo family name. Soun could cast Akane out of the family, declare her Ronin, it would effectively kill her, Tendo Akane would be no more. Soun could also take her dishonor as his own and take her place with the knife.

None of the options were pretty, but then again, he should have seen something like this coming. Looking back on the time since Ranma's arrival and before, Soun could clearly see the downward spiral of Akane's behavior. Fights at school every morning with the boys, her willingness to take her aggressions out on Ranma at the slightest provocation, and her habit of doing so physically.

Soun had to admit that recently Akane had been more irrational than before, but it did not excuse her actions nor the consequences of them. If what Nodoka said was true, then Akane had struck Dr. Tofu, an even larger pillar of the community than he was, such an action would have dire consequences. Now the only question was should the entire family suffer for the crimes of one?

Tofu was deep in thought while he watched over the unconscious form of Ranma. After making sure that the boy, girl at the moment, was going to be okay, Tofu had went ahead to check on his own wounds. The task of checking himself for damage brought dark thoughts to the Doctor. He had been the Tendo Family Doctor for over fifteen years, practicing in Nerima for over twenty, and this was the first time that he had been attacked by one of his patients in anger.

There would be no hiding the fact of what happened here tonight. Too many people had seen him come to the Tendo house, and Akane had yelled so loud that he doubted there was anybody in a blocks radius that didn't have a general idea of what was going on. Tofu leaving the Tendo house limping and bruised would make pariahs of the Tendo's. Tofu was going to have to make a hard decision, something that he hated doing, but it couldn't be avoided.

Tofu looked down at his slumbering charge and had to fear for the cursed boy. Before Akane had interrupted and assaulted boy Tofu and Ranma, Ranma had been telling Tofu of several horrible things that he had never suspected about the Tendo family. They mainly had to do with Akane's treatment of him, especially recently, but they also covered the actions, or rather inactions, of the other family members. Turning a blind eye to Akane's mistreatment of Ranma and in some cases, exploiting the boy for profits.

Tofu was confident that would stop now, so he wasn't going to bother with it. Tofu knew the cursed boy had a forgiving nature and wouldn't hold it against Nabiki for very long. And it wasn't his place to say anything about it.

Tofu knew that Ranma wasn't blameless in this situation, but it was hardly his fault as Akane was so fond of shouting.

Tofu sought to meditate and center himself before making his final decision regarding the events of this day. Something felt wrong, but it was far too late to put them right.

Meanwhile downstairs, the situation had not improved, the temperature was noticeably cooler than elsewhere as Nodoka calmly sat staring at the broken man Soun had become.

Nabiki was speechless, her mouth gaping like a fish while she tried desperately to find the words to fight what was happening, some argument that would change Mrs. Soatome's mind, some blackmail she could bring to bear to make the woman back down.

The argument that honor had no place in today's society died before they were in her throat, killed by the conviction in the elder woman's stance and eyes. She would not listen to modern thoughts on honor from a girl half her age, to even bring that up would only invite more pain.

After having witnessed the way that Akane had batted aside Tofu to get to Ranma, Nabiki wasn't sure if she was comfortable with the thought of defending Akane.

"Kasumi, would you go and bring my son and Dr. Tofu down here for me, please?" Nodoka's tone was cool and dangerous, but polite.

"Yes, Auntie."

Happosai had done many things in his lifetime but one of the worst things he had done was to train both Soun and Genma. While the training itself was not dangerous, the old master's methods had an adverse effect on both Soun's and Genma's sense of Honor. Skewing it until they could only see the parts that were beneficial to them and being able to glaze over the parts that were less than desirable.

While Genma had been more susceptible to it than Soun had been, the effect was still there. In Soun's defense, it only applied to his personal honor, rather than his family's while Genma was corrupted to the point of not caring about his family honor unless it benefited him. (A.N. For evidence of this, read the story in the manga where Nodoka finds out about the curse.)

Tofu joined them with a bleary, teary eyed, and wobbly Ranma supported on his arm, a limp evident in both of them. Nodoka spared a glance at her child and grimaced at the decidedly female way her manly son was acting right now, but she could excuse it for the moment.

"I wanted my son and Dr. Tofu here to witness my decision. I have dissolved the engagement between Akane and Ranma, Akane has acted with dishonor this night, striking a respected doctor, a guest, her father, and her fiancé as well as making accusations against my son that are not true. Her actions are not befitting the house of Tendo and shame all who claim that name. What say you, Tendo Soun? Do you accept what you must do to retain your family honor or will both our houses be shamed tonight? I do not with to break the promise to join our houses but I cannot abide this dishonor."

"What may I do retain my family's honor?" Soun was speared, there was no where to run, no where to hide, the light at the end of the tunnel was an oncoming train. The only way to go was forward.

"Death before dishonor, Soun. It is a shame I have to spell it out for you. I will only do it once. Akane regains her honor the only way she can, Seppuku, as befitting her Samurai lineage. You cast her out, remove her from your clan and never speak of her again. Or you take her place with the blade, your honor for hers.

Elsewhere:

"Shampoo! How are things progressing with the Tendo girl?"

"Aiyah! Shampoo do as elder say and put liquid in violent girl's shampoo. She more violent than ever now. What we do now?"

"Now we wait. Soon she will become so violent that she will drive Son in law away from her and into your open and caring arms. Then we can go back home with your husband in his rightful place."

(A.N. What will it be folks, you decide!

I know that there is a lot of OOC stuff going on, but hey, I'm not Rumiko Takahashi. I do my best with her characters but its my story.


	3. Build up

Rage part three

Akane Tendo was slowly boiling in her own anger while she sat in the room where Nodoka had told her to stay. She was staying not because a woman with a sword at her throat had told her too, but because she had decided to do so and it was only a coincidence that was what the bitch wanted. Tell yourself a lie enough times and it will eventually become your truth.

Akane's rage wasn't directed solely at Ranma, it was just that for the past few years, Ranma had proven himself to be safe target for her to unleash on. He would take anything that she would dish out and bounce right back for more within minutes, if not immediately. After Saffron and some of the other incidents involving Ranma, Akane was pretty much convinced that he was invulnerable, thus a safe target.

It wasn't until the wedding that she had started to notice a change in the way that she treated Ranma. She had warned him that he would regret it if he called off the wedding, which was precisely what he did.

It was true that the other fiancés, Kuno, Ryoga, Mousse, and Happosai all had their parts in ruining her wedding, but it wasn't any of them that had left her for some water. Instead of being happy that they were going to be wed, the moment that the spring of drowned man water popped up, Ranma was off and away after it. Leaving Akane behind in her western wedding dress to deal with all the people that were invited to a cancelled wedding.

If Ranma had only stayed with her, had not left her for a bottle of water, then she would be happily married right now. They could have dealt with all the others together, but no! He had decided that being a man was more important than being a husband. The seed of hate had been planted that day.

Soun had said that Ranma would have to settle his affairs with the other fiancés before they could be wed, but Akane knew that he had yet to do anything towards that goal. She knew that he was just stringing everybody along just so he could have the attention. She knew that he was lying when he had told her that he didn't know how to settle the affairs.

Akane saw it as simply Ranma telling everybody that he was going to marry her.

Ranma had argued that he couldn't just do that because of honor. His and the other fiancé's honor would be smeared by any action that Ranma took, except for the Amazons. Ranma had figured that only their honor was at stake because it was their laws that got him into their trouble. He had never actually agreed to anything they were trying to push on him. Yet he was still reluctant to be part of damaging Shampoo's honor.

Right before the wedding, before the Saffron incident, Akane had tried to be nicer to Ranma, and for a while, things were good between the two of them. If good means less violent. Akane had tried to take steps to improve her relationship with Ranma, if for no other reason than to get her father to shut up about it. She had come to care for the boy, enough to risk her life for him a few times.

But the wedding had been a turning point for Akane, when her father approached her with his plans for the shotgun wedding, more like had the dress waiting with a stern order that it would happen that day and he expected no arguments, she had shoved all the protests down into her. Despite the feeling in her stomach, like butterflies only heavier and felt curiously of dread, she had forced herself into the wedding dress for her wedding that she wasn't sure of.

During the Saffron event, Ranma had saved her life, but he spurned her during the wedding for a casket of water.

It used to be so easy for Akane to just take out her frustrations on Ranma and be done with it, but lately she hadn't found the same satisfaction that hitting Ranma had brought before. The desire to punish him for his slights and problems was still present, born on the first night they met, but the feeling that she had gone far enough wasn't coming.

Where before she would have been happy with just knocking Ranma through the roof and let him fly, now she wanted to follow him and send him back the way she sent him.

It had been an unconscious thing, not something that she had been aware of until she thought about it. The sting of where the blade had rested on her neck was prompting such thought.

How did she feel about Ranma? She had found that she had come full circle regarding her feelings for the cursed boy. When he arrived at her home and labeled himself a pervert by looking at her naked body and then later having a better body than her, she only had annoyance and hostility for him. Eventually, she came to care for him, his presence in her life something she took comfort in, if not a little secret joy. Now though, she was tired, not physically, but she was tired of Ranma's attitude, his fiancés, and his unwillingness to settle things, his need to be better than everybody. The time she had caught him with the porno magazine at school had convinced her that he was a pervert just as she was starting to think otherwise.

She was tired of the feelings that came unbidden within her every time she saw him with another woman, and thanks to his curse, or man. She was tired of his casual disregard for those feelings as if they never mattered. She didn't want to feel that way, of being disregarded without a second thought, and Ranma did it all the time. She hated it. She was starting to hate Ranma for it.

Akane's thoughts were interrupted by the door opening and a pale looking Nabiki standing in the doorway.

"We have to talk."

Ranma was feeling wretched, like her body had been tenderized and her feelings had been laid onto hot coals. Ever since the bathroom she had been feeling out of sorts. Ranma had been rendered unconscious twice tonight so far, once by Kasumi's shiatsu points and once by Akane's fists, and now Ranma was feeling like she would loss consciousness again because of what her mother was saying.

"Death before dishonor, Soun. It is a shame I have to spell it out for you. I will only do it once. Akane regains her honor the only way she can, Seppuku, as befitting her Samurai lineage. You cast her out, remove her from your clan and never speak of her again. Or you take her place with the blade, your honor for hers."

No. Not this. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't real. She was dreaming. She had to be. This would never happen in real life. It felt like a dream, her body was slow and sluggish, unresponsive. The only thing she could see was her mother's face, everything else lost detail while her mother's face gained more. Her mother's face was stern and resolute. She had never seen it so serious.

It was a new experience for Ranma to look upon her mother's face and see an emotion other than sadness or happiness. For the longest time, sadness was the only thing that could be seen on her face, replaced by happiness after she had declared Ranma to be manly in spite of whatever form he was in.

The unfamiliar expressions almost made the older woman unrecognizable. Unidentifiable noises could be heard around her, but she paid them no heed.

Ranma was suddenly wet, male, and a little confused as to why he was on his knees. His mother was looking at him with another emotion that he only ever saw on Akane's face, disgust.

She placed her teacup back upon the table with an easy grace.

"I will not have my son acting as a hysterical girl, do you understand me?" Ranma could only nod before looking to Tofu in confusion.

"Do you see the damage your daughter has done to my son? The effect she has on him? The dishonor that she brings to both our families? " Nodoka going at full steam.

"Doc." Ranma whispered. "What happened? What'd I do?"

"You went into shock, Ranma. You fell to your knees and started babbling about how it was your fault, how sorry you were and how worthless you were. I have to admit that you have a hard face; I slapped you twice to try to knock you out of it. You weren't responsive until Nodoka threw her hot tea at you."

"This isn't a dream is it doc?" Ranma asked hopefully.

"No, Ranma, I'm afraid it isn't." Tofu had an unusually serious expression on his face.

"We can't let this happen, we have to stop this. We can't let my mother do this. It was bad enough holding seppuku over my head but now Akane's?"

"I don't think we can stop this from happening, Ranma." Tofu had a sad look in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know that you're used to having something that you can face Ranma, but this is something else entirely. These walls are not as thick as you may believe and many in the neighborhood have made this house the hot topic of gossip. I know because that is what they talk about when they are in my waiting room or when I am examining them.

By now, there are several of your neighbors who have a good idea at some of the events that have happened tonight, particularly of how Akane has acted. My presence here is no secret and neither is Akane's violent nature. When I leave here to go home, people are going to notice that I am hurt and will put two and two together. Unless something happens to address that, then the neighborhood is going to talk and things will start to go badly for the Tendo family."

"How can you do that to the family, you know it wasn't Akane's fault."

"You misunderstand, I have no control over that, I'm just making an observation and a prediction. Nerima is an old district with a few Samurai families within it, the Tendo's being one of them. When the rumor that the youngest daughter of the Tendo's struck a doctor and nothing was done of it, then everybody will lose respect for the Tendo's. They'll be ostracized. While Bushido is no longer a way of life for many, as you can see, the older generations still respect it to a high degree and many still expect the Samurai families to uphold its tenets.

As much as I hate it, your mother is right in what she is doing. I've been there since Akane was a child, and I never expected for her to attack me. The Tendo family is not the only one caught up in this, I too have to make a hard decision about what happened earlier. You see, if nothing happens to Akane and I continue to see and treat the Tendo's, then I shall lose respect here as well. I'll lose my patients and eventually my business."

"But what if there's something making her like this, what if she's not at fault?" Ranma was starting to get desperate.

"Even if there was something that was making Akane act like this, it wouldn't change the events earlier nor would it change how people feel about it. It would just make it look that much worse for her and the family. Let's say for example that she was drugged, the way things are going right now it would be much too late for us to find out what she was drugged with, let alone how, what, or who. Then again, there isn't anything to support the idea that she's been drugged."

"I have to go, I have to find the thing that is making Akane like this."

"No you will not." Nodoka's voice was stern. Ranma realized that instead of whispering, both him and Tofu were now the center of attention.

"Dr. Tofu's assessment of the situation is accurate, my child. Akane's actions this day are merely the last straw of a very large load. Regardless of whether or not her actions were the results of outside influence or not, it is ultimately her shoulders that must bear the consequences. To ignore what she has done today would be a grave mistake for all three of our families, and would shame us all.

Tell me, Ranma, do you love that girl?" The question was unexpected as was the answer, as if by rote driven into him by two years of constant denials.

"That tomboy? No Way! Uhm…I mean."

"It is as I thought. Ranma, if there is an outside influence responsible for Akane's actions, then we will find them and settle with them in the fullness of time, but I will not have you chasing a fool's errand in order to delay what must be done. I do not wish for this but we cannot ignore this.

If you have made your decision, Soun, I would see this done before the Doctor leaves so that there is a witness."

"I've decided…that Akane must chose her own path in this."

"Both wise and cowardly. Very well, bring her here and have her make her choice."

Nobody had noticed that Nabiki had not been present for some time.

"Great grandmother, how liquid Shampoo put into Violent Girl's shampoo work? Shampoo thought it not work at first but then notice Violent Girl more violent."

"It's an old Amazon secret for breaking those away from an Amazon's rightful husband. A closely guarded secret, the liquid is an extract of a plant found only near Jusenkyo. In large doses, is causes an enhancement of certain emotions to a ridiculous degree. For example, if Ryoga were to be exposed to a drop of the concentrated stuff, then his hatred for Son in law would become quite a bit more homicidal in nature.

It remains in the system with each exposure for a time, and builds with each exposure. This is why it was to go into the girl's shampoo, something that she'll use on a regular basis that no one else would use. I've noticed how the girl is more annoyed at Ranma than anything else. This will enhance her annoyance to epic proportions and cause her to give in to her violent urges.

All you have to do is wait for Ranma to tire of it and be there to catch him."

"Is too, too good plan."

"Something isn't right here."

"You're damn right something isn't right. How can they not see that I didn't do anything wrong? This is all Ranma's fault."

"Just shut up about that for a minute, don't you realize what you've done? What's going on?"

"Ranma's turned everybody against me, that perverted freak. Just wait till I get my" SLAP

"I can't believe you! She's down stairs right now talking to our father about having you kill yourself to retain our family's honor, and with the way you've been acting lately I can't think of one damn reason to stop her! Now you either calm down and help me, or so help me, I'll leave you to whatever fate she has in store for you."

"You hit me."

"Yes I did, now talk to me. What's got you so worked up that you assault Dr. Tofu?

"It was Ranma! You saw him! He was being perverted and trying to seduce Dr. Tofu."

"…"

"You saw it, right?"

"Akane, you know I love you, right?"

"Yeah…"

"If you're lucky, we can talk some sense into Nodoka and put this behind us with little fuss, but if you keep this attitude up then the best you're looking at becoming Ronin, the worst is either you spilling your guts or father in your place. If you have a choice, go Ronin; I'll set you up with a place and a new identity. Other than that I won't be able to help you."

"It won't come to that, all I have to do is explain"

"You aren't listening! She isn't playing around. She's not interested in hearing you out. You say anything about anything being Ranma's fault and Kasumi will be replacing tatami mats in the morning."

"What can I do?"

"Apologize, ask for mercy, and above all, control yourself."


	4. Aftermath

Rage Part Four

Akane was sitting across from her father, his face a wet sheet of tears but he was not bawling. Other than the tears, he was a stoic and proud figure. Nabiki and Kasumi were off to the side of the room, along with Tofu and Ranma. Ranma was sitting by himself with an unreadable look on his face. Akane had started to scowl in his direction, but caught herself. Now was not the time to give in to her emotions. Genma was curiously absent. Even more curious was that nobody seemed to care.

Nodoka sat across from Akane beside Soun; if Ranma's face was unreadable then he had been taking lessons from her. The only indication of her mood was the look in her eyes as they refused to look upon the youngest Tendo daughter for any length of time.

The Soatome family blade and the Tendo Family blade both lay on the table between them.

Akane was having some trouble taking this seriously, the gravity of the situation not having crashed into her yet. She expected that to happen sometime after the blade was in her stomach or she asked herself where she was going to sleep tonight. Right now she was doing her best to keep her eyes on her father to keep from glaring at Ranma's mother.

"Akane Tendo, my daughter, your actions tonight have brought shame and dishonor to your family and fiancé. As fitting a family heritage as an Ancient Samurai family, we still honor the edicts of the Bushido code, the way of the warrior." The tears continued to fall but did not interfere with his speech.

"In ancient times, the Way would demand your life for such an offence, 'Death before Dishonor.' We live today though, not in the ancient times, so you are not required to take your own life to satisfy honor."

"Instead, you may remove yourself from this house and family taking with you the stain on our family honor."

"Do you have anything that you wish to say before…?"

It was on the tip of Akane's tongue, to decry Ranma and place the blame for all of this on his shoulders, but it died there on her tongue as she looked upon both her father and his mother in turn. Nabiki's words came back to her as she gazed upon the adults across from her.

Nodoka was exihibiting an iron will resolve to see this through as well as an expression that said that she was prepared to dismiss anything but what she wanted to hear.

Soun, her father, was his old self before mother died, with the façade of an iron spine firmly in place while his mask clearly showed the cracks of his true emotions. Soun never liked to discipline his daughters, he always left it too his wife.

Akane took a deep breath and as calmly as she could; spoke

"I apologize for my behavior earlier, it was uncalled for and unexcusable. I ask for your mercy." Akane's acting skills were pushed to the limit as she attempted to say the words and make them sound sincere.

Nodoka took her time before responding to the teenager's plea. Nailing Akane with a look that was invasive, looking for something in Akane. When she finally spoke, Akane jumped slightly at the sound.

"Mercy was asked and I am not heartless, you shall receive it. Honor still has its demands and this is how it shall be satisfied…"

It was raining, narrative casualty has its demands and one of them is whenever something emotional is happening, it rains. It was much later, the situation with Akane had been resolved to everybody's satisfation, or rather, Nodoka's satisfaction while everybody else were still in shock over how things had changed.

Ranma was not at home, instead she was under her bridge, just out of the rain, giving in to what her mother had referred to as unmanly. She was having a good cry and dealing with the sense of loss she now felt. An Akane shaped hole that was no longer filled and left Ranma in deeper pain than she had ever felt before.

After an hour of hiding, Ranma started to make her way home.

Things had not gone as Akane had hoped. Currently standing outside the Tendo Dojo holding a suitcase hastily packed with whatever clothes she could grab, she was angry, but too shocked to really act on the anger.

The plea for mercy was heard and taken into account by Nodoka and after a brief discussion with Soun and Tofu, it was decided that Akane would be declared Ronin until both her and Ranma were married, to other people.

After that, she was rushed up to her room and told to grab what she thought was necessary before being shunted out the door. Looking around, she could see the neighbor's windows as hidden figures drew themselves away from her attention. The loud proclamation of Soun's at the door had surely informed the neighborhood of what had happened.

With one last sigh, Akane, just Akane, turned and walked away from her old life and into the unknown.

888

"We apologize again for the events earlier, doctor."

"Apology accepted, I am just sorry that it had to happen at all."

"As are we, but the consequences of certain actions could no longer be ignored."

"Speaking of consequences, I would like to speak to Ranma tomorrow after he's had a good night's sleep."

"Why do wish to speak with my son?"

"It has been an emotional night for us all, more so for him than anybody else. I just want to make sure that he isn't adversely affected by this any more than necessary."

"I see. He shall be sent to you after breakfast."

"Thank you. Good night."

888

Ranma wasn't in bed asleep, but was rather on the roof staring up into the sky. If any one could see his face, they would have seen a troubled young man. Tears silently leaked from his eyes while doing his best to hold them in.

"I thought I would find you here, Soatome." Nabiki's voice whispered into Ranma's ear. Ranma silently regarded her for a second.

"We haven't had a chance to talk after everything that's happened. I wanted to say…" Ranma wasn't even looking at her at this point.

"I wanted to say that I was sorry. For everything that has been done to you ever since you got here."

"…"

"I know its not much, but today's shown me some things about myself I didn't like, things about my family I refused to see."

"She's gone."

"Yeah, I know."

"Do you know what the crazy thing is? I don't know if I should be happy or sad about it. Part of me is relieved that she's gone, another part is expecting her to come back and hit me again, and another part wants her too.

So, am I engaged to you again?" Ranma changed subjects suddenly and wearily.

"That would be the unspoken consensus." Nabiki said.

"Do me a favor then…"

"What?"

"Give me a little time to think. A couple of days to sort myself out."

"Sure, Ranma."

888

Akane was walking slowly, not quite sure of where she was going except away from her old life. The ringing of a phone scared the daylights out of her, especially since the phone seemed to be in her suitcase.

A quick investigation revealed Nabiki's cell and a brown envelope. Akane answered the cell before opening the envelope.

"Hello?…"

"Akane," Nabiki's voice hissed into Akane's ear. "I can't talk long, so listen carefully. In the envelope is all the information that you'll need to survive the next few weeks. I'll call you again on this phone when I have something more for you. For now, just survive and know that I love you despite what's happened."

Before Akane had a chance to reply the line went dead.

Inside the envelope was some money and an address.

Without a better idea of what to do, Akane started to seek out the address.

888

"I'm concerned about your health, Ranma." Tofu said to the young man sitting in his office. "Yesterday was a major event and I think it would be best if you were to talk to somebody about it."

"What's to say, Doc?" Ranma didn't look good, the bandage on his wrist was fresh, but was still needed and the bruises from the day before had barely faded.

"Ranma, it is obvious that something is troubling you, I've never seen you this unbalanced, not even during the weakness moxibustion incident. You aren't healing like you should be, and I mean like a normal person, I've seen you heal worse damage than this before my eyes, yet these bruises seem to linger." Tofu admonished Ranma.

"It's a lot of things, Doc. A lot of it is…was… Akane." Ranma started hesitantly.

"I know that what we had was wrong. I never wanted to be with her, but everybody made it out that what we had was perfectly normal, so I continued to put up with her and the abuse. I'm not as stupid as some would make me out to be, I did as much verbal abuse to her as she did to me, but she always resorted to hitting me.

Do you know what its like? To be in a situation where you know its wrong, but everybody around you says that you're wrong, that it's perfectly natural?"

Doctor Tofu sat and waited for Ranma to continue.

"It was weird, at first, she never wanted anything to do with me until something threatened to take me away, then she would fight like hell to keep me. Either that or it just seemed like that."

"I haven't been feeling well since before the wedding, I killed a godling for her and I thought that she wasn't coming back. But she did. After the wedding was when it started to get bad, really bad. I would always get caught in some sort of embarrassing situation and Akane would hit me or call me names, but after the wedding, I just had to show up for her to blow up. Akane would decide to cook and then hit me for refusing to eat her cooking Before she even stepped into the kitchen."

"I think that it is safe to say that Akane isn't going to be abusing you any more, Ranma." Tofu started to say.

"But what about me? What's to stop me from acting like I did with my next girlfriend? I'm sorry, I can't have a girlfriend. My next fiancé? I couldn't stop myself with Akane! You know that Nabiki is my newest fiancé? Confirmed it last night."

"I'm sure that Nabiki is a fine girl…"

"You don't get it! I don't want Nabiki! I didn't want Akane! I never wanted Shampoo! I can't make myself want Ukyo! I never wanted a fiancé! I don't want to get married! I never knew any of these girls before I was suddenly betrothed to each of them and each one expected me to drop everything and live out their fantasy lives for them! What about me! Don't I get a say in this?

I can't just tell any of them that I don't want them. I've told each of them as much too many times as it is. They don't listen to me. I'm the pivot in everybody's lives and no matter where I swing, somebody is going to get hurt or upset. It's tearing me apart and nobody seems to care."

Tofu was a little speechless as Ranma's sudden rant winded down. Maybe things weren't as good for the martial artist as Tofu had been led to believe.

888

Ryoga was lost. This was his usual state of affairs, so it didn't bother him. Ever since he had gotten back from Jusendo and played his part in the failed wedding of Akane and Ranma, Ryoga had wandered.

Right now, Ryoga was looking for the Akari's Farm. He knew where it was, but not how to get there. So he was asking directions.

"Excuse me, miss? Do you know the way to AKANE!


End file.
